Chapter 14
“Welcome to the first of today’s activities!” Eric cheered. The entire wedding party was standing in the Little Parlor, ironically named for its size. Three ivy-clad windows looked out over the main drive up to Honeywell House, bathing the room in autumn sunshine.
“This morning you’ll all be taking part in a scavenger hunt around the house.”
Dina couldn’t help but grin as she heard the words “scavenger hunt.” Immy grinned back at her, knowing just how intense Dina’s competitive streak was.
“Immy and I have written a list of strange items that we’ve spotted around the house. Now, there are more than thirty items on here, and you don’t need to find them all. Each person needs to bring only three items from this list to us in order to win a prize. Come and get your lists. You have an hour!” Eric clapped his hands, and started the timer.
Dina glanced over at Scott, who had carefully situated himself on the other side of the room to her. He looked equally gleeful at the prospect of the hunt; somehow it didn’t surprise her that he had a competitive streak too.
“Every woman for herself?” Rosemary chuckled beside her.
“I’ll see you at the finish,” Dina replied, as the two of them splitup.
Dina took a moment to go through the list before she made any rash decisions. It was everyone for themselves, though she noticed both her parents and Scott’s had gone off in pairs. Cheaters.
The list was a veritable cabinet of curiosities. Among the objects was a taxidermised squirrel, a small still-life painting of an eighteenth-century dildo surrounded by flowers, a lover’s eye ring, a preserved blue butterfly, a jar of apricot jam that had gone out of date in 1904, and an edition of Sense and Sensibility that apparently had a love letter scrawled on the inside cover.
Dina decided to look for the jam jar first—she knew her way around a kitchen pantry. Taking the servant’s staircase down, she strode through the open kitchens of Honeywell House until she found a small closet door labeled “Pantry.” The scent of dust and old preserves hit her nose. Whoever was cooking the meals for the wedding guests must have installed a more modern pantry on the premises because this one certainly didn’t see a lot of use.
She found the jam jar easily enough, even without needing to use a searching charm. She’d avoid using magic here if she could; Dina believed in winning fair and square.
She wondered which items Scott had gone in search of; would he hunt down the still life with the dildo perhaps? Or the lover’s eye ring? Of course her mind went straight to the gutter when thinking about Scott. She needed to get a grip.
She hadn’t been thinking this morning, not at all. Not when she’d let him suck icing off her finger, and definitely not when she’d nearly pressed her lips to his.
At this point, it didn’t feel like a matter of if she was going to give in to her craving for Scott, but when.
The hunt for the blue butterfly was a little trickier. Looking at a map of the sprawling estate grounds, Dina guessed that she might find it in the blue room. No luck. And guessing from the other guests she spotted in there, she wasn’t the only one after the butterfly. She needed to up her game.
If she was a man of the landed gentry in the 1800s, where would she put a prized butterfly specimen? Somewhere she could look at it. Somewhere like…a study. Dina walked as quickly as she could through the hallways, up the main staircase with its twisting oak banisters and gothic paintings, and into the Master’s Study. It was a dark room, a room made for smoking cigars and contemplating one’s life by firelight.
And there it was, in pride of place above the hearth. She nabbed the frame off the wall and set off for the library, because where else would the copy of Sense and Sensibility be?
The library was unexpectedly on the top floor of the house. Clearly, whoever had lived here once had wanted a view of the grounds as they sat in the window and whiled away an afternoon reading. It was the library of Dina’s dreams. Floor-to-ceiling mahogany bookshelves lined the walls, with a sliding ladder to help reach the highest shelves. A weathered carpet in the center of the room muffled her footsteps. Cozy-looking armchairs sat under tall reading lamps and there was a display case of yellowing maps of the shire.
She was just browsing the shelves, searching for Austen, when the door creaked open. Scott stood in the hallway, surprise lighting his face.
The two of them, alone again.
“What are you doing here?” he said, stalking into the room.
“Same as you, I expect.”
“Found it yet?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Not yet.”
“Well then.” He grinned and raced toward the nearest shelf. Oh, it was on.
Dina dashed to the shelf nearest to her, running her fingers along the spines. No Austen. The books weren’t even stored alphabetically, nor by color. It’s as if they’d been arranged by…genre. Scott had clearly got the same idea as her, as they rushed to the same part of the library where she’d noticed a romance novel before.
There it was—anon-descript green leather book with fine gold printing on the spine. Sense and Sensibility. Dina was aware that Scott was looming over her as they both reached out at the same time to grab the book. They tugged, but the book didn’t move.
Instead, they heard a whirring, followed by a thunk. The entire bookcase creaked open, revealing a hidden door.
“No fucking way,” Dina whispered. Immy and Eric had definitely known about this when they’d added it to the list. She looked up at Scott, who looked just as surprised as her. “We have to go in there.”
“After you.”
Dina stepped cautiously into the passageway, ducking out of the way of some of the more gnarly-looking cobwebs, aware that Scott was close behind her. She reached behind her and took his hand, tugging him onward. She couldn’t shake the electric jolt that coursed through her as their hands touched.
“What do you think is down here?” Dina said. The narrow passage twisted ahead of them, lit only by the lights from the library at their back.
“Hopefully something with a high ceiling,” Scott muttered behind her.
“You’re claustrophobic?”
“A little. But I’m fine with you,” he replied, a softness in his voice that struck her straight in the heart. This man was going to ruin her.
They walked on a little further, but with a final corner the passage opened up into a small room. Though perhaps “cupboard” was the better word to describe its size. Cut into the wall was a sliver of window with a stained-glass design depicting two lovers in each other’s arms. Dina wondered if Immy had intended for her to find the room all along.
“It’s a lovers’ nook,” Scott said, wonder in his voice. “They were relatively common in the late 1700s, built for unchaperoned lovers to find a moment to themselves. I’ve never actually been in one though.”
“Well, it’s certainly not made for more than two people.” Dina laughed, swallowing her nerves. Here they were again, in startlingly close proximity. Maybe it was a sign from the universe, as her mother had suggested. Perhaps the time for denial was over.
She was acutely aware that Scott still held her hand and was absentmindedly drawing circles in her palm with his thumb.
“We’re just friends,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
Dina sucked in a breath. “But if we weren’t just friends, what would you do?”
Scott stilled and stepped closer so that his chest was flush with Dina’s back.
“If we weren’t just friends…” he said slowly, “I would do this.”
He bent down and pressed a single kiss on the curve of her neck, before trailing his lips up to the shell of her ear. A shiver rippled through her.
Scott’s hands found Dina’s waist and pivoted her around to face him.
“If we weren’t friends, I would do this.” He tipped her face up to meet his, his lips finding hers, and the kiss devoured her. He tasted like Earl Grey and cinnamon and warmth. Dina’s lips parted almost in surprise, her mouth molding to Scott’s, her arms winding around his neck. She needed to be closer, closer.
Scott’s tongue flicked against her own, his lips pressing down on hers hungrily. She wanted him, all of him. When he ran a hand down her back, grabbing the curve of her ass, she let out a whimper and he groaned into her mouth in response.
“Christ, Dina,” Scott hissed, his mouth finding her neck, his arms pulling her up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist, running her fingers through his hair. He pressed her against the delectably cold glass of the window.
It was all heat, all delicious hunger, and she gave in to it. Scott’s lips continued downward, his tongue lapping at the softness between her breasts. She’d never been so grateful to her past self for only putting on a camisole under her cardigan.
Scott brushed a finger across her nipple and need jolted through her, arching her back into him.
“Please,” she moaned.
He didn’t need asking twice. The heat of Scott’s mouth found her breast, his tongue flicking at the hardened bud of her nipple. Goddess, this felt good. She pressed her hips into him, relishing his groan as his erection pushed against his jeans. She continued rubbing against him, chasing the hot friction.
Scott kissed her again, and without removing his lips from hers said, “I won’t last much longer if you keep doing that.”
With her free hand, Dina reached down to his belt, unbuckling it. She was trailing a finger across the V of his waist, when voices sounded nearby. Too near.
“Is it in here?” one of the voices said. Oh fuck, were they about to be found?
Scott and Dina froze. Ever so carefully, Scott lowered Dina to the floor, refastening his belt with one hand. He didn’t step away from her though.
“No, it’s not here. Let’s try the next room,” another voice said, and a moment later the door of the library creaked shut.
They both exhaled, before breaking into laughter.
“That was close,” Dina said, smoothing down her hair. She didn’t want the moment to be over. Scott reached down and pulled up the straps of her camisole his palm resting on her collarbone for a moment before drawing away.
“What now?” he asked.
“I guess we finish the scavenger hunt.”
“I’ve already won my prize.” He grinned.
“That was cheesy as hell.”
“Sue me.”
“I want…” Dina began. “I want this to continue. But I’m not really looking to date right now.” She had to set this boundary, more for herself than for Scott. She could give in to her desires for the weekend, but then this had to end. She couldn’t risk the hex noticing him.
Scott’s expression tightened for a moment.
“If all you want is this weekend, then that’s what we’ll have,” he replied, brushing a curl behind her ear. “But we should go back, otherwise Immy and Eric might send out a search party.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t tell the others either. Otherwise they’ll—”
“They’ll get excited. I understand.” Scott bent down, his lips tantalizingly close to hers. “It can be our little secret.”